Cocktail reception cheaper or not?

Cocktail reception prices are all going to depend on your venue and your area. Ours were just as much as a plated dinner because they have to do more food prep since you aren't sure what people will be eating. I'd assume it's the same at most venues but you never know!

My catering manager advised me against this due to the time of day of my reception and the cost. We are having a Friday evening wedding, so our guests will be looking for dinner. At first, I was not happy, but I trusted her opinion as the expert. I am so grateful I did. I went to an extended cocktail reception.....it was not too great ;(.

We considered a cocktail reception for a while, the quotes we got weren't much (if at all) cheaper than a regular sit down dinner

It can definitely be cheaper...for us is was more than 50 less per person v. a sit down dinner

Depends on how many people you're feeding and what exactly you're doing. If you're doing heavy apps it would probably be the same price, if not cheaper, to do a buffet or plated meal.

However, if you're doing a cake and punch style reception with a few light apps (finger sandwiches, fruit plate, etc) it can definitely be cheaper!

ETA: it could also depend on the length of your reception... if you're having a 5 hour long wedding then you're going to need a lot more/heavier food than for a 3 hour long wedding

Our venue gave us the option to have a 5 hour cocktail hour style reception instead of a plated dinner, but since our attire is black tie optional, we went with the plated 3 course dinner. The price for cocktail style was actually $30 more per person since there's a ton of food all night.

I agree w/pp. I found that it really all depends on number of guests and type of appetizers. If doing heavy apps then definitely tends to come out the same if not more than buffet or plated.

My fiance and I did decide to do a cocktail reception, with hors d'oeuvres and desserts. And it ended up being way less expensive than a plated dinner. Partly because we found the right vendor (some others in town tried to talk us into way more than we wanted or needed).

You might find that people will try to talk you out of this kind of reception, but if you like the idea and it fits within your budget I think you should go for it. Our wedding will start just a little earlier than what might be expected for a cocktail reception, but we're putting it on the invites so everyone knows far in advance that there won't be a full meal.

A lot of venues in our area had pretty strict minimums on how many different types of passed apps you offered, which in the end was just as much, if not more per person over a buffet or plated dinner.

We're doing a buffet style italian dinner with a chef attended pasta station for $35/pp, plus a cocktail hour with 5-8 passed apps at between 80-150 per 50 pieces. You can really save a lot of money by skipping out on expensive steak or seafood dishes and going with chicken/pasta.

We were thinking about it, but that was so we could fit more people into our venue, without all the tables. We're having our reception on a riverboat, so that's key. The cost of 66 people to sit down and eat and have an open bar vs the cost of 150 people to have an open bar and appetizers was significant. We decided against it due to the $2k difference.

My cocktail style will be cheaper then plated. Our venue really worked with our budget.

I been considering the numbers on doing this as well ! Not sure on how many different apps we should do , if we went this route.

From the quotes I've been getting, it's a pretty mixed bag and really depends on the caterer.